Drunk American arrested with ‘gun necklace’

Karl Hammer told police he usually wore the pistol as a necklace and wasn’t aware it was illegal.

An American national was under arrest Friday for carrying a firearm, which he claimed was merely a fashion accessory, police said.

Karl Hammer, 39, was detained by police Thursday night in Prachuap Khiri Khan’s city center after officers received a call from a 7-Eleven worker that he was licking the window glass and staring at her, said policeman Satawat Saengtaeng. He said Hammer was intoxicated at the time, so he was taken to the police station for questioning.

It was at the station that police say they found a .45 pistol in his pocket, prompting them to charge him with illegal firearms possession.

Satawat said Hammer told him he wore the gun as his necklace – even as he walked through the immigration checkpoint at Suvarnabhumi Airport – so he thought he was fine. The suspect refused to give any other testimony and no one has contacted police to bail him out so far, the officer said.

Satawat added that he has yet to inform the U.S. Embassy about the arrest, citing the need to compile proper documents first.

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